Kerry Button Q&A
There’s been a lot of change going on at Intec HQ with the company being acquired by Plockmatic Group, alongside the launch of new kit. We caught up with Kerry Button, sales director of Intec at The Print Show 2022 to find out more
Tuesday, 22 Nov 2022 19:28 GMT
Kerry Button, sales director of Intec
Changing times
Tell us a bit about what Intec does as a company?
Intec as a company has now evolved into a manufacturer and distributor of digital cutting and finishing systems.
Can you tell me a bit more specifically about some of the systems Intec offers?
We offer cutting and creasing in two different categories. We have the flatbed options which are manual placing of sheets for people wanting to produce packaging prototypes in low volume type of work. Now we have also introduced the auto-feed systems as well which allows people to up production, both cut and crease card, and also do kiss cutting for labels and that type of work.
You’ve told us that packaging is a huge market at the moment and it’s something that you’re seeing people really becoming interested in. Can you tell us a bit more about that?
Yes, the packaging side of the business has been a growing market globally at the moment. According to all the data that we’ve read it’s going to be like that for the foreseeable future, which is good news for us. We’re finding that more and more people are wanting to get into packaging one way or another.
The packaging side of the business has been a growing market globally at the moment; and according to all the data that we’ve read it’s going to be like that for the foreseeable future”
Entry into this market, when you look at large rotary die-cutting machines, has been limited. But with the range of machines that we’re producing now, it allows access to that marketplace, at a low cost.
Earlier this year, Intec was acquired by Plockmatic Group. Can you tell us a bit about how that came about?
[L to R] Plockmatic CEO Jan Marstorp; founder of Intec Ian Melville; VP sales and marketing for Plockmatic Ray Hillhouse; and Salvatore Grimaldi owner and CEO of Grimaldi Industri (of which Plockmatic Group is part of)
We were talking to Plockmatic, and they were buying some of our machines and were keen to get into that part of the marketplace. Obviously, the quickest way for them to get into this market was for them to acquire us, which they did earlier this year. We’re now delighted to be part of the Plockmatic family.
How’s it going so far, is it a good fit?
It’s going really, really well. We’re still operating fairly autonomously. We’re working closely with our friends at Morgana. Obviously our products are a good fit for them too, and at the moment it’s early days but it’s going really well.
It’s your first presence at The Show under the new group, how has the event been for you guys?
Well, before we came here, because of the three-year absence, we felt it was going to go one of two ways. We felt it was either going to be absolutely rammed with lots of excited people eager to get out after the three-year wait, or people will have found other ways of getting information and maybe it goes quiet.
We felt it was either going to be absolutely rammed with lots of excited people eager to get out after the three-year wait, or people will have found other ways of getting information and maybe it goes quiet. But it was neither of those two, it was a mix of both really”
But it was neither of those two, it was a mix of both really, and we found that whilst the footfall, in our opinion, has been lower than those in previous years, people have come here with a purpose. They hadn’t come just to look around, they were coming here to look at something they’ve researched or something specific. So, the quality of people that we’ve seen at our stand has been extremely high.
In terms of what people have been coming to look at, what have you been showing specifically at the show this year?
We’ve been showing our range of cutting and creasing systems as well as our foiling systems too. But in all honesty, it’s the automated feed systems that have caught everyone’s imagination. I think the other side of that is that people have been very pleasantly surprised at the low cost of entry for these systems too. We’ve introduced the SC5000 which is our entry-level auto-feed system. That was done during the Covid period and that’s now our bestselling item.
And more generally, like you said, we haven’t been here for three years, what is it like to be back in person and is it beneficial to do these events?
There is nothing that can replace that face-to-face meeting with both customers, and also people from other companies as well. It’s nice to see people from the other manufacturers as we haven’t had an opportunity to do that recently.
And for anyone wanting to find out more about Intec, how can they get in touch?
Just contact us on sales@intecprinters.com or visit our website at www.intecprinters.com.
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